Over-the-top action game series “Devil May Cry” has finally returned.

While 2013 saw a reboot of the franchise with “DMC: Devil May Cry,” fans have been asking for a return to the main series ever since 2008’s “Devil May Cry 4.” Does the return to the main series give fans what they’ve been waiting over a decade for? Or does it simply lead to disappointment?

Five years after the events of “Devil May Cry 4,” Nero has finally set up his own demon hunting agency based out of a van with his girlfriend Kyrie and his engineer Nico. One day, however, a mysterious cloaked figure appears and rips off Nero’s arm, taking it and escaping in a portal. Around the same time, a man known only as “V” visits the Devil May Cry demon hunting office to hire Dante and his crew to kill a demon named Urizen. Urizen recently appeared in Red Grave City and began wreaking havoc, leading Nero to assume he is the one behind stealing his arm. Nero crosses paths with Dante and V and the three decide to try and take down Urizen before he destroys the world.

As seems to be tradition with Japanese game sequels recently, “Devil May Cry 5” has a convoluted and confusing story. Fans of the series should be able to pick up on what is going on relatively quickly, but if you are a new player, be prepared to be confused.

Not only is the story confusing, it’s also very cheesy at times. The voice acting and writing is like something out of a b-movie from the 80s. Unless you are already a fan of the franchise, if you come to the game expecting a great story, you’ll be disappointed and left wanting more.

The story isn’t the main reason to play “Devil May Cry 5,” however. The frantic gameplay is what keeps bringing people back to the series. The game is a hack-and-slash action-adventure where the main objective is to kill enemies in as many ways as possible without being touched.

Gameplay is where “Devil May Cry 5” shines. Nero, V and Dante all play differently from one another, keeping the game from getting dull over its 20 missions. Learning all three gameplay styles is a blast and killing demons never got old. Fighting demons is easy to learn but hard to master, allowing novice players to feel cool by mashing the same button repeatedly and letting experienced fans pull off complicated combos to get a higher score.

“Devil May Cry 5” is not a forgiving game, as I struggled while playing on the easiest of six difficulties. The game ranks each of your encounters with enemies from D to SSS based on how you decide to take them down. If you aren’t very skilled at video games, be prepared to constantly have “Dismal” on the side of your screen while playing through the game.

The game not only plays well, it is also strikingly beautiful. The destroyed city and hellish landscapes that you fight through over the course of the game look fantastic, with each new environment bringing with it new detailed demons.

Overall, “Devil May Cry 5” is a game that fans of the franchise will get the most out of. The story is confusing to new players and contains some pretty cringe-worthy dialogue and acting. The gameplay is a treat if you can master it but can become boring to players who are unable to memorize the combos needed to become truly skilled at the game.

If you are a longtime “Devil May Cry” fan or love hack-and-slash games, chances are you’ll absolutely love “Devil May Cry 5.” If not, however, I’d steer clear of it.

7.5/10

Game reviewed on a PlayStation 4 Pro